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Topics - heartbroken

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https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-13667573/Man-arrested-fireball-crash-killed-family-four.html

Man is arrested over fireball crash that killed motorbike couple and family-of-four as police urge anyone who saw grey Porsche in area to come forward

By Rory Tingle, Home Affairs Correspondent and John Siddle For Mailonline

Published: 12:36, 24 July 2024 | Updated: 13:21, 24 July 2024

A man was arrested today on suspicion of causing death by dangerous driving after a fireball crash which killed six people, including four members of the same family.  Shane Roller, 33, his partner Shannen Morgan, 30, and two of their daughters, Rubie and Lillie Morgan-Roller, aged nine and four, were killed when their Ford Focus collided with a motorbike.  Their surviving daughter Poppie, 11, was staying with a friend as her whole family perished in the tragedy.  Christopher Barton, 56, and wife Janine, 48, were yesterday named as the motorcycle rider and pillion passenger killed on the A61 near Barnsley, South Yorkshire.  West Yorkshire Police said a man was arrested this morning and appealed to anyone who had seen a grey coloured Porsche 911 in the area to come forward. The suspect was today being questioned by detectives in custody.  Detective Sergeant Steven Suggitt said: 'I would like to appeal for anyone who may have seen this grey Porsche 911 being driven on the roads around the south of Wakefield or north of Barnsley to please contact us.  I would also urge anyone who has dashcam, doorbell or CCTV footage of this car, that may assist our investigation, to please contact us.'

The crash happened on the A61 between Wakefield and Barnsley shortly before 4pm on Sunday. All six victims died at the scene with the Ford Focus said to have exploded after leaving the road.  Shannen Morgan and Shane Roller's daughter Poppie, 11, was not in the car after she decided not to join her family for a day out.  Christopher and Janine Barton's 21-year-old son, Lewis, has also been left orphaned by the crash, and yesterday described his parents as 'a loving, caring mum and dad who always put me before everything else'.

The couple had recently celebrated their 25th wedding anniversary and were just 20 minutes from home after they had spent a day out at the seaside in Scarborough.  The motorbike was allegedly driving on the wrong side of the road before the fatal collision at around 3.54pm.  Lewis was believed to be on holiday in Thailand at the time of the horror crash and flew home after hearing the news.  Yesterday, neighbours in a quiet street in the suburbs of Barnsley where the Bartons lived spoke of their shock at their deaths as one wept: 'I haven't been able to take it in just yet. I'm just heartbroken. We all are.'

The couple's near neighbour Margaret, 87, who did not wish for her surname to be used, said they were a hard-working couple who 'loved life' and were 'always laughing'.  She said: 'I was absolutely heartbroken when I heard the news. It's not fair. It's the biggest tragedy I've ever come across.  I had choir practice and I knew I wouldn't be able to get through it without breaking down as we sing sad songs.  What I'm so distraught over apart from the fact that they were so young is that Janine was always laughing. Everybody is absolutely devastated on this street.  They loved life, they'd worked so hard on their house and their garden and they were so young as far as I'm concerned.  They only finished the garden off about a fortnight ago. I think they were planning a big party to celebrate their anniversary.'

Margaret said the couple, who had lived in the street for around three years, were always friendly and their son was a 'very, very nice young man'.  She added: 'Christopher loved his bikes. They had been out to Scarborough on the bike on the Saturday and were coming home on the Sunday.  They weren't far away from home at all, it's heartbreaking that two youngsters like that should lose their lives in such an awful way.'

Shane Roller's father and grandfather to Rubie and Lillie yesterday posted a tribute on Facebook to his son, describing him as having a heart of gold.  Graham Roller wrote: 'On Sunday we lost part of our family, Shane Roller, Shannen Morgan and two beautiful little grandaughters in a terrible car accident.  Shane wasn't just a son but an amazing father and he had a heart of gold . Shannen our daughter in law was funny and was also an amazing mum and they thought the world of there little family.  They will be very much missed by everyone that new them, but they will always be in our hearts and thoughts forever. Fly high and stay safe together.  Love you more than words can say.'

The eldest daughter of the Morgan-Roller family, named locally as Poppie, had been playing at a friend's house at the time of the tragedy after choosing not to go on a walk with them that afternoon.  A family friend revealed that Poppie is now set to move in with her auntie, who has been described as an 'amazing, loving, and capable guardian'.

The child's new living situation was shared by Paul Hepple, 37, with whom Poppie has been staying with since the horror crash on Sunday.  Writing in a post on a GoFundMe page, which he set up for her, Mr Hepple also said Poppie's remaining family would be 'entirely responsible' for managing its funds.  He said: 'Since the tragic incident, Poppie has been staying with us.  The love and support we have received from all of you have been truly overwhelming, and we are deeply grateful.  Regarding the donations, I want to assure you that every penny will go directly to Poppie's new guardian, her auntie.  Poppie will be staying and living with her auntie, who is an amazing, loving, and capable guardian.  She will be entirely responsible for managing the donations, ensuring that all funds are used for Poppie's well-being, including her living expenses, education, and any counseling she may need.'

Mr Hepple said he agreed to look after Poppie after getting a phone call from her mother saying she did not want to join them on a walk.  The father-of-four explained they were settling down for a Sunday dinner when they got an emergency phone call.  Mr Hepple said: 'Her mum actually contacted us and asked if we could watch Poppie because she didn't want to go on the walk that they went on.  So we were watching Poppie as she's best mates with our daughter. She was with our daughter having fun. And on their way home, that's when the accident happened.  We were having Sunday dinner as a family, and Poppie's auntie was with us and obviously, Poppie was as well. And then she got a phone call and she ended up leaving really quickly to go and see what happened.'

The software developer, who is a long-standing friend of Poppie's parents, has raised more than £340,000 to put towards her education, emotional support and future care.  He said: 'It's awful. No one is ready for anything like this to happen. She can come any time she likes and we'll do anything we can to help her.'

Mr Hepple described Poppie as a 'bubbly' girl who loved Taylor Swift and said her family was widely liked locally.  He added: 'She's a lovely bubbly girl and everyone loved her family. They were always chatty and turned up to parties all the time.'

2
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/article-13506273/AMANDA-PLATELL-sad-Harry-missing-action-solemn-day-imagine-hes-wondering-decision-shun-loves-worth-prince-william-king-charles-d-day.html?login&param_code=irud4sbt4czdy6lz6bt5&param_state=eyJyZW1lbWJlck1lIjpmYWxzZSwicmFuZG9tU3RhdGUiOiJiYmEwNWFmNy0xODcyLTQyOGQtOTU5Ny0wMzIzM2E2ODdlYjcifQ%3D%3D&param__host=www.dailymail.co.uk&param_geolocation=row&base_fe_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.dailymail.co.uk%2F&validation_fe_uri=%2Fregistration%2Fp%2Fapi%2Ffield%2Fvalidation%2F&check_user_fe_uri=registration%2Fp%2Fapi%2Fuser%2Fuser_check%2F&isMobile=false

AMANDA PLATELL: So sad Harry was missing in action on this most solemn day I imagine he's wondering whether his decision to shun so much of what he loves was worth it

By Amanda Platell for The Daily Mail

Published: 02:06, 8 June 2024 | Updated: 03:04, 8 June 2024

Prince William spoke for us all when he said at the D-Day events: 'It's almost impossible to grasp the courage it would have taken to run into the fury of battle that day.'

At the deeply moving commemoration, William was wearing a clutch of medals and standing alongside world leaders, in place of his father King Charles who has had to ration his appearances because of his cancer treatment.  A moment to remember, as the baton was temporarily passed from father to son. And one that brought home to us Prince ­Harry's absence more than ever.  How must Harry have felt observing the proceedings from the seclusion of his Californian mansion while his wife Meghan flogs jam for a living?

After all, Harry was the one the veterans loved, his natural camaraderie making it easy for him to joke and laugh with them. Unlike William, Harry knows what it is like to see active service and understands in part what these brave soldiers have been through. He, too, would have been proudly sporting his medals on this most momentous of days, had he not shattered his ties with his ­homeland, declaring war on his family in his memoir Spare.  Yet I couldn't see a single post about the 80th anniversary of D-Day on the Sussexes' website. Why nothing from him about the extraordinary courage of the veterans?

Perhaps I missed any tribute he made, but his apparent silence only accentuates how he ­abandoned his past life, as well as his distance from family and country.  He must find the world a lonely place, looking on in sadness, I imagine, at the solemn events this week, no longer speaking to his brother and wondering whether his decision to shun so much of what he knows and loves was worth it. How tragic for him that, on June 6, Harry was ­ missing in action.

3
Fun, Games And Silliness / Succes
« on: May 07, 2024, 12:20:43 PM »
There once was a rich man who was near death. He was very grieved because he had worked so hard for his money and he wanted to be able to take it with him to heaven. So he began to pray that he might be able to take some of his wealth with him.  An angel hears his plea and appears to him, "Sorry, but you can't take your wealth with you."

The man implores the angel to speak to God to see if He might bend the rules.  The man continues to pray that his wealth could follow him. The angel reappears and informs the man that God has decided to allow him to take one suitcase with him. Overjoyed, the man gathers his largest suitcase and fills it with pure gold bars and places it beside his bed.

Soon afterward the man dies and shows up at the Gates of Heaven to greet St. Peter. Seeing the suitcase Peter says, "Hold on, you can't bring that in here!"

But the man explains to him that he has permission and asks him to verify his story with the Lord. Sure enough,. Peter checks and comes back saying, "You're right. You are allowed one carry-on bag, but I'm supposed to check its contents before letting it through."

Peter opens the suitcase to inspect the worldly items that the man found too precious to leave behind and exclaims, "You brought pavement?!?!"

4
Fun, Games And Silliness / Sleep
« on: April 22, 2024, 09:59:12 AM »
A pastor assured his congregation he was their servant and that they should feel free to call him anytime they had a problem.  That night the pastor's phone rang at 3 a.m. On the other end was a dear elderly lady who said, "Pastor, I can't sleep."

"I'm so sorry to hear that," he comforted her. "But what can I do about it?" the pastor asked.

She sweetly replied, "Preach to me a while, pastor."

5
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/royals/article-13176811/How-young-Queen-foiled-cynical-campaign-Edward-Mrs-Simpson-gatecrash-early-years-reign-ALEXANDER-LARMANs-new-book-reveals-exiled-couple-formidable-foe-saw-like-shed-Harry-Meghan.html?login&param_code=tn1k5iuclyy255wqgd6h&param_state=eyJyZW1lbWJlck1lIjpmYWxzZSwicmFuZG9tU3RhdGUiOiI1MDVhYjY3ZC04MmYwLTRkYTctOGI1Mi02NzU2ZWRlNWQ4NGMifQ%3D%3D&param__host=www.dailymail.co.uk&param_geolocation=row&base_fe_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.dailymail.co.uk%2F&validation_fe_uri=%2Fregistration%2Fp%2Fapi%2Ffield%2Fvalidation%2F&check_user_fe_uri=registration%2Fp%2Fapi%2Fuser%2Fuser_check%2F&isMobile=false

How the young Queen foiled a cynical campaign by Edward and Mrs Simpson to gatecrash the early years of her reign, ALEXANDER LARMAN's new book reveals. The exiled couple found a formidable foe who saw them off like she'd see off Harry and Meghan

By Alexander Larman

Published: 12:10, 9 March 2024 | Updated: 12:10, 9 March 2024

Had the Duke of Windsor wished to portray himself as a king-in-exile, he could not have done so more ostentatiously than at La Croe, the chateau in the south of France which he and his wife had moved to following his abdication.  With a staff of 28 and guests of the calibre of Noel Coward and Winston Churchill, they indulged in self-aggrandising theatricality, as if in compensation for all that he who ruled so briefly as King Edward VIII had given up to marry Wallis Simpson, the American divorcee who was now the Duchess.  'A tiny little white table for us four was set on the huge lawn,' recalled one visitor. 'There were rows of footmen the night was furiously hot but the Duke was in full Scottish regalia. I thought he was staging a production of some sort.'

Another observer was similarly dismissive about the relationship between the Duke and Duchess. Describing their presence at a Monte Carlo gala, he wrote: 'She had on every jewel. He wore a kilt. It was like watching a couple in pantomime the studied gestures, the automatic smiles.'

The Duke was no more subtle when he returned to England in February 1952 for the funeral of his younger brother, King George VI, who had so reluctantly come to the throne following his abdication.

One observer remarked on Edward's 'swaggering' manner, and described how he was 'talking and looking around, gesticulating and almost waving to the huge and completely silent crowd'.

As the late King himself had written to their mother Queen Mary, the Duke 'seems to think that when he gave up his work for which he was trained, he could "live" it down and return here as a private individual and all would be well. He has to consider others beside himself, and I doubt whether even now he realises the irrevocable step he took and the ghastly shock he gave this country.'

Among the biggest upsets caused by the Duke was one all too familiar to today's Royal Family following the publication of Prince Harry's autobiography Spare in January 2023. This came seven decades after the release of the Duke of Windsor's memoirs, his revenge on those he believed had wronged him in the years since his decision to give up the throne had left him jobless, stateless and rootless.  Much given to self-pity, he never admitted to being the author of his own misfortunes, instead blaming his brother for just about everything, including his inability to find a job that suited him.  His tenure as governor to the Bahamas between 1940 and 1945 had been dogged by endless controversy, including his friendship with the Nazi-sympathising mogul Axel Wenner-Gren, who had an estate there and no doubt agreed with the Duke's privately expressed view that 'Hitler was not such a bad chap'.

After leaving the Bahamas in May 1945, the Duke and Duchess based themselves at the Waldorf Towers in New York where their suite was decorated in suitably regal if garish style. One visitor noted that it contained everything from full-length portraits of George III and George IV the latter being the ruler the Duke had often explicitly compared himself to to two liveried footmen, and even napkins embossed with the Royal arms.  Shortly afterwards the Duke suggested to the King that he should become an ambassador-at-large to the United States, leaving the official ambassador, Lord Halifax, to attend to the drudgery and official business while he travelled the world first class, naturally and the bill was picked up by someone else.  Halifax, a former Foreign Secretary who had dealt with the Duke during his governorship of the Bahamas, remembered his arrogance, lack of consideration to his fellow man and general inability to do his work to the required standards. When asked to comment on the Duke's proposal, he wrote: 'I cannot but think that anything of this sort would lead to inevitable trouble.'

In March 1946 the King wrote to his brother to tell him that the appointment would not be possible, and the Duke's anger was exacerbated by his brother's continued refusal to give his wife the recognition he believed was her due. Although the terms of the abdication entitled him to use the title of His Royal Highness, this was denied to the Duchess and he considered this insulting and wrong.  Within two months he had written to his lawyer, Sir Walter Monckton, outlining his plans to write 'my side of the abdication story'. He claimed he wanted to explode the 'considerable doubt and conjecture' that existed in people's minds. But as he confided in former courtier Godfrey Thomas, he had noted the lucrative deal secured for Winston Churchill's six-volume history of the Second World War and didn't see why he shouldn't be similarly rewarded.  Edward may have airily compared himself to Churchill, but there was a key difference between the two men. The former Prime Minister was a talented writer with an ear for a killer phrase, while the former monarch was an adequate, if verbose, correspondent given to unjustified self-regard.  A ghostwriter was needed, and his American publisher appointed journalist Charles Murphy, a former China correspondent for Fortune magazine and an expert on global intelligence matters.  When they began work at La Croe in the summer of 1947, Murphy discovered that the then 54-year-old Duke was spending most of his nocturnal hours in various nightclubs, often remaining out until dawn. He later wrote: 'His span of attention was two and a half minutes maximum, and when the story of the preceding night was plainly written in his trembling hands and bloodshot eyes, I knew that another workday would have to be scrubbed.'

The book still wasn't finished by the end of 1949, by which time the King had learned that rumours of its intended publication were not mere gossip. According to the Conservative politician Harold Nicolson, he was 'very distressed at the news'.  Although fully aware that the King was recovering from an operation to address vascular problems caused by his heavy smoking, Edward came to London that December to raise with him once again the increasingly vexed situation of the Duchess's HRH title.  Their meeting did not go well. In a letter to Princess Elizabeth, the Queen described how Edward 'came & had one of his violent yelling conversations, stamping up and down the room, & very unfairly saying that because Papa wouldn't (& couldn't) do a certain thing, that Papa must hate him'.

The book was eventually published in September 1951 just five months before the King's death from a coronary thrombosis. Although there are no letters detailing the King or Queen's reaction, it is a safe assumption that their opinion did not stray far from that of his private secretary Sir Alan 'Tommy' Lascelles. Writing to a colleague, he expressed disgust at 'a former King of England selling for money his recollections of his family life, in a form that is indecent and for a motive that is squalid'.

The reviews were mixed. The Times Literary Supplement talked of how 'it is the Duke's own book his own personality, his likes and strong dislikes, spring to life as well as his keen sense of humour'.

Had they known of the extent of Charles Murphy's involvement, the praise may have been more lukewarm, like that of The Observer which sighed: 'The wisdom of publication is arguable the hero emerges as rather a pathetic figure.'

Such criticism did not harm sales. Charles Murphy estimated that the Duke earned close to £357,000 the equivalent of about £10million today from A King's Story. But the couple's expensive tastes meant that sums of money that would have kept most people happy for a lifetime were spent in a matter of months.  The book also estranged the Duke from his family for ever, as became clear following the King's death on February 6, 1952.  During a press conference given aboard the Queen Mary as he sailed from New York, the Duke hinted that his visit to London for the funeral was not a purely selfless one, pointing out to American newspaper reporters: 'Queen Elizabeth is only 25 how young to assume the responsibilities of a great throne in these precarious times?'

Backing away from the clear implication that he might step in as regent for 'the girl' as he and his wife referred to her in private he concluded: 'She has the good wishes and support of us all.'

But it was clear that he and Wallis had discussed the likelihood that they stood to gain preferment if they played their cards right.  While the Duke was in London for the funeral, Wallis wrote to remind him to ingratiate himself with the new Queen and her husband, adding: 'I know how you hate being there but this is a golden opportunity and it may only knock but once.'

Whatever their plans, they had underestimated their implacable opponent in the Queen Mother who, for all her public and private proclamations that she would be taking on a supporting role now that her daughter was on the throne, remained a powerful figure who was not yet ready to shuffle off into her dotage.  The first indication that she was prepared to flash steel concerned not the Duke but Prince Philip.  Having spent a considerable amount of time and money refurbishing Clarence House as a home for Princess Elizabeth and their young children Charles and Anne, Philip objected to moving to Buckingham Palace, insisting there was no need for the expense and bother of uprooting the new Royal Family.  His mother-in-law did not agree. 'I have been feeling very unhappy all today, and I suppose that talking about leaving Buckingham Palace just finished me off,' she wrote in a letter to Elizabeth.

But although she was clearly still coming to terms with her altered status, she knew that every monarch since Queen Victoria had lived at the palace, and nobody believed more strongly in upholding protocol than she.  'Naturally you must move back to B.P. in the spring,' she insisted and eventually Philip had to accept the monarchy was a greater institution than four people. He gave in.

The Queen Mother was more unyielding still when it came to dealing with her brother-in-law, reserving continued contempt for the man whose actions she believed had affected her husband's health irreparably in the years leading up to his death.  Shortly before the funeral, the Duke learned that the £10,000 he had been receiving as an annual allowance since his abdication was to be stopped, as it had been purely in his brother's gift.  Lingering in Britain after the ceremony, he wrote a letter to 'Cookie' the insulting sobriquet he and the Duchess used for the Queen Mother to request a private appointment.  'I can well understand your not wanting to be bothered by people at this terribly sad moment in your life,' he said. 'But I would very much like to have a talk with you alone.' 

His request was granted, but if he had hoped to bring his brother's widow to his side over the vexed question of money he was to be disappointed, as he was over his plan to attend his niece's Coronation.  Following a conversation with the young woman about to take up the mantle of majesty, Geoffrey Fisher, the Archbishop of Canterbury, recorded in his notes that 'the Queen would be less willing than anyone to have him there'.

In this she may have been influenced by her mother, but the new Queen was also discovering confidence in adversity, commenting to one friend: 'I no longer feel anxious or worried. I don't know what it is, but I have lost all my timidity somehow becoming the sovereign.'

Her uncle had been an appalling, selfish king; her father a dutiful and serviceable one. But Elizabeth II was someone quite different.  Her reign would not be without controversy, incident or upset, but never would she be regarded by her loyal and adoring subjects as anything other than an inspiration. She was the longest-serving monarch in British history, and in many regards the greatest.

© Alexander Larman, 2024

Adapted from Power And Glory by Alexander Larman, to be published by Orion on March 28 at £25. To order a copy for £22.50 (offer valid to 23/2/24; UK p&p free on orders over £25) go to mailshop.co.uk/books or call 020 3176 2937.

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https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-12972759/bronson-battersby-final-fortnight-starved-dehydrated-five-days.html

Bronson Battersby's heartbreaking final fortnight: How tragic toddler's mother last saw him alive at Christmas before he was found curled up in the dark at his father's knees starved and dehydrated a week after social worker raised alarm to police

By Matthew Lodge and Dan Woodland

Published: 09:11, 17 January 2024 | Updated: 10:27, 17 January 2024

A toddler was tragically found curled up in the dark at the knees of his dead father weeks after his mother last saw him alive at Christmas.  The body of two-year-old Bronson Battersby was found in the Skegness home of his dad Kenneth on January 9 after days of attempts to contact them by concerned social services.  The child who was classed as vulnerable and was being checked on weekly was found in his pyjamas in the dark alongside the family's emaciated pet boxer dog Skylar who survived.  The tragic discovery came a week after a social worker first raised an alarm about the pair to police after being unable to contact Kenneth at an arranged meeting on January 2.  A neighbour had seen Kenneth and Bronson on Boxing Day, days after the child's mother Sarah Piesse last saw her son alive before Christmas.  But 60-year-old Kenneth is thought to have succumbed to a heart attack before New Year with his son tragically passing away days later due to starvation and dehydration.  Now a timeline has revealed the tragic final weeks of Bronson's life:

    Before Christmas - Bronson's mother Sarah Piesse sees him alive for the last time and argues with the boy's father Kenneth Battersby.
    Boxing Day - A neighbour goes to see Kenneth and Bronson at their home in Skegness.
    December 27 - Sixty-year-old Kenneth messages the neighbour to thank her for checking in on them. He also receives a text from a social worker arranging a visit on January 2. 
    December 29 - The earliest date Kenneth could have died based on the results of a post-mortem.
    January 2 - The social worker arrives at the house but gets no answer when knocking on the door. She contacts the police.
    January 4 - The social worker returns to Kenneth's Skegness home and again receives no answer, She once again contacts the police.
    January 9 - The social worker, using a key from Kenneth's landlord, gets into his home. She finds the bodies of Bronson and his father.
    January 16 - Family get the results of a post-mortem showing Kenneth died of a heart attack and Bronson from dehydration and starvation.

Heartbroken family and friends have paid tribute to the pair who were only found when the social worker, who had contacted police twice in the space of a week with concerns about them, used the key of Kenneth's landlord to gain entry.  They had visited Kenneth's home in Skegness, Lincolnshire on January 2, for a routine visit but received no reply, and after failing to find them through friends contacted the police.  They visited again on January 4 but again there was no response from them. The social worker contacted the police again that day.  They would contact police a third and final time after discovering the bodies of the pair on January 9.  The toddler's mother, Sarah Piesse, 43, last saw her son before Christmas after a row with her ex and when she saw him next she was tragically unable to hold him as she identified his body as 'he had been left there too long'.  Ms Piesse told The Sun: 'If social services had done their job Bronson would still be alive.  I can't believe it. They can't let them get away with this. We have to be able to rely on social workers to keep our children safe.  I've had the results of the post mortem. Bronson starved to death because his dad died. They think Kenneth died no earlier than December 29.  It means if the social worker had pushed to get in when she got no reply on January 2 then Bronson would still have been alive.'

On Facebook, Bronson's sister Melaniie Battersby wrote: 'Beautiful little boy deserved so much better than this life. We love you Bronson, forever a part of us, and forever my baby brother.'

Adding her 'head and heart' were 'in pieces', she said: 'A lot of anger inside at minute when I just want to remember his little smile and soft nature instead. He were perfect.'

Mother-of-three Sarah last saw Bronson after getting into an argument with Kenneth before Christmas.  A friend of the family said the toddler enjoyed watching the Cocomelon, adored nursery rhymes and often played his Little Tykes drum kit.  They added that it was horrible to think that the 'gorgeous' boy who was 'always smiling and so loving' had been 'left in the dark and must have been terrified and so confused'. 

Bronson was last seen alive by his neighbour after they visited the house on Boxing Day. Kenneth then messaged the same neighbour saying: 'Thanks so much for caring, it means the world to me and Bronson.'

That same day, the social worker texted Kenneth to arrange a visit on January 2.  She contacted the police when she did not receive any answer during the visit and did the same again when she returned to the house on January 4.  The social worker then decided to enter the property herself on January 9 using a key from the landlord.  She found the bodies of Bronson and Kenneth and contacted police, who then rushed to the scene along with paramedics at around 3.25pm. The pair were pronounced dead at the scene.  Kenneth was unemployed and had a pre-existing heart condition which had caused him to become severely jaundiced is the months leading up to his death.  Bronson was also classified as vulnerable by social services meaning that he received weekly visits from social workers.   The Sun said it understands the social worker has voluntarily taken time off.  Heather Sandy, executive director for children's services, said: 'This was a tragic incident, and we are supporting the family at this difficult time.  We are carrying out a review of the case alongside partner agencies to better understand the circumstances, and we await the results of the coroner's investigations as well.  Our thoughts are with the family and friends of those involved.'

A spokeswoman for Lincolnshire Police said: 'Police were made aware of the deaths of a 60-year-old man and a two-year-old child at a property in Skegness, at around 3.25pm on January 9.  Investigations have been carried out and the deaths are not being treated as suspicious.'

MailOnline has contacted Lincolnshire Police for further comment.

7
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-12622241/TV-judge-Rob-Rinder-reveals-Jewish-mother-doesnt-feel-safe-Britain-Hamas-attack-Israel-says-young-nephews-school-risk-not-come-home-amid-surge-anti-Semitism.html

TV judge Rob Rinder reveals his Jewish mother doesn't feel safe in Britain after Hamas attack on Israel and says his young nephews go to school 'under risk and might not come home' amid surge in anti-Semitism

    READ MORE: Judge Robert Rinder lights a candle for Holocaust Memorial Day

By Katherine Lawton

Published: 09:51, 12 October 2023 | Updated: 10:17, 12 October 2023

Rob Rinder today revealed his Jewish mother does not feel safe in Britain after the Hamas attack on Israel.  The TV judge also told Good Morning Britain that his young nephews go to school 'under risk' and may 'not come home' as he fears for the safety of all Jewish people across the country.  It comes amid fears of a surge in anti-Semitic hate crimes in Britain after Hamas terrorists slaughtered innocent Israeli civilians at the weekend and Israel starting bombing Gaza in retaliation.mmRinder was born into a Jewish family and received an MBE in 2021 along with his mother Angela Cohen in recognition of their services to Holocaust education. He learned how seven of his relatives were slaughtered in Nazi concentration camps in the Second World War while delving into his family history on a 2018 episode of the BBC series Who Do You Think You Are?   Speaking to GMB, he said: 'My mum is sitting there saying she feels unsafe there's less than 270,000 Jews in this country, and my nephew, kids as young as seven, are going to school today and they do so under risk.  There's a chance they're going to not come home. Sending your kids to school shouldn't be an act of courage that's the life-lived experience of Jewish kids just going to school.  And of shop owners in London and in other cities, we've got a lived memory of that of what that means not to be safe because of your religion, because of being Jewish.'

He added: 'It's personal for me but it should be personal for every person, whoever you are, up and down the country.  It's worth remembering when you think about how you're going to respond today.  I was at a vigil outside Downing Street. What happened at that vigil was that there way no chanting, no happiness, there was prayer for peace, for every singe human life, every single human life that has value.  Whatever happens in the Middle East should have no impact on the safety of our communities - and its your job whoever you are to stand alongside us because we need you.'

He added: 'Be mindful of that is what I'd say before you post.'

Rinder made an emotional plea to social media users to 'think carefully' before they post following the death of two of his friends in Israel.  Speaking to Sky News at the Attitude Awards in London on Wednesday, Rinder said: 'Be kind, read and educate yourself and think carefully before you post (on social media).mm'Kindness requires thought, it requires hope, it requires you to try and be as mindful as possible, as you can have to learn a little bit and we invite that from other communities and that's true of the Jewish community as well.  Right now, our Jewish community, many of my friends, my kids who I taught, I've got friends who were killed at that dance party, for example, a couple who planned to get married, two women in Israel, they spent their lives trying to work and campaign for peace and they're gone tonight.'

Supernova music festival in the desert near Kibbutz Re'im was invaded by Hamas gunmen and hundreds of attendees were killed.  Rinder took a pause during the interview as he appeared to break down and look tearful and upset before, saying: 'Hamas doesn't speak for the people of Palestine, it does not speak for the people of Gaza, it's a tragedy and a horror for what might befall them, but be mindful of the Jewish community tonight.  Thousands of people have died, many of whom are working for justice, for freedom, for the people who celebrate this so joyously, remember them too and don't ask them questions about whataboutery, they don't deserve that.  Hamas is a terrorist organisation. It's one that hates gay people.  They do not speak of or by for the good people of the world, remember that when you post, be mindful.  Remember all human life is a value and we as a Jewish community, just like the LGBT+ community, need you, we need you more than ever and be an ally, and think, and be kind.'

Judge Rinder gave a talk to mark Holocaust Memorial Day at Exeter Cathedral in Devon in January.  The TV personality also lit a candle in remembrance of the six million Jews who were killed in the atrocity.  The UK's Holocaust Memorial Day was first held on January 27, 2001 and has been held on the same day every year since.  The date is the anniversary of the liberation of the Auschwitz concentration camp by the Soviet Union in 1945.  Upon receiving his MBE, Rinder said it was 'a gift to share this with my mum who has taught me always to see the best in humankind.'

In 2020, Rinder made the documentary My Family, The Holocaust and Me in which he and his mother explored Jewish families' stories and speak in schools alongside survivors.  Some three million viewers watched the documentary, which follows second and third generations of three families affected by the Holocaust.  The TV judge was told how his great-grandparents and five of their children were killed in the Holocaust, with his grandfather, Morris Malenicky, the only member of the family to survive the war.  The star discovered how Morris' parents, his four sisters and his brother all died at the Treblinka Camp in Poland in 1940, six months after war was declared.

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https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-12552055/Child-vampire-body-Poland-17th-century-feared-body-archaeologists.html

'Child vampire' body is found in Poland: 17th century locals feared body of youngster could come back to life, archaeologists say

    A woman with a scythe across her neck was found in the same cemetery

By Elizabeth Haigh

Published: 09:55, 23 September 2023 | Updated: 10:02, 23 September 2023

The remains of a six-year-old child a community feared would come back to life as a vampire have been discovered in Poland partially exhumed and with half the body missing, archaeologists say.  The 17th-century Polish cemetery in the village of Pien has been the focus of historians this week after it was revealed multiple bodies had been unearthed with 'anti-revenant' protection methods.  Myths surrounding the undead and vampires date back to as early as the 11th century in eastern Europe, and it is not uncommon for skeletons bearing the marks of these superstitions to be unearthed.  In eastern Europe tales of people who died and then returned to the living world several months later were rife, and were often blamed for sudden deaths, accidents or even just generally making life more difficult - such as being held responsible for a poor harvest.  But the discovery of a tiny child's skeleton treated this way is believed to be the first of its kind.  The child, believed to be around six years old, was discovered buried face-down, so that if they awoke they would bite the ground rather than suck the blood from the people above them, the Times reports.  Its foot was also held in a padlock, which could have been to make its exit from the grave harder, or to symbolise the 'closing of a stage' and make it impossible for the child to return.  But archaeologists also discovered that after burial, the body was partially exhumed and the top half removed, presumably to be destroyed.  Team leader Professor Dariusz Poliński from the Nicholas Copernicus University in the nearby city of Torun told the Times the child was clearly 'greatly feared'.  He continued: 'The reason for such a brutal and disgusting burial is unknown.'

The grim discovery was made in the same cemetery as a woman who was buried with a scythe pressing down on her neck a way to ensure she would decapitate herself if she tried to rise from the dead, experts said.  Professor Poliński previously told MailOnline: 'Ways to protect against the return of the dead include cutting off the head or legs, placing the deceased face down to bite into the ground, burning them, and smashing them with a stone.  The sickle was not laid flat but placed on the neck in such a way that if the deceased had tried to get up most likely the head would have been cut off or injured.'

In a similar way to the witch trials, myths surrounding blood-sucking revenants returning to haunt a local populace caused significant hysteria in some areas of Europe - and even led to some executions of innocents thought to be vampires.  Those who died and were deemed to be at risk of returning were often buried in remote graveyards away from major settlements.  Professor Poliński said this could include people who died unbaptised or those who killed themselves.  They could also have had particularly violent deaths or experienced frightening symptoms of mental illness, or serious diseases.   Methods to ensure they remained dead included placing a scythe over the body, burning it or even staking and decapitating it.   In 2015, archaeologists in the village of Drewsko 130 miles away found five skeletons buried in a similar manner at a 400-year-old cemetery.  Sickles were found pressed against the throats of an adult man, who was between 35 to 44 years old, and an adult woman around 35 to 39 years old.  An older woman, who was 50 to 60 years old when she died, was buried with a sickle laying across her hips, and a medium sized stone at her throat.

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Fun, Games And Silliness / Tomatoes
« on: August 23, 2023, 10:39:26 AM »
Customer: "How much are these tomatoes?"

Owner: "Ninety-nine cents a pound."

Customer: "What? The stand down the road only charges seventy-nine cents a pound!"

Owner: "Then why don't you shop there?"

Customer: "They don't have any today."

Owner: "Well, when I don't have any I charge seventy-nine cents, too!"

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The Top Ten Ways The Bible Would Have Been Different If It Had Been Written By College Students

10. The Last Supper would have been eaten the next morning...cold.

9 The Ten Commandments would be only five, double-spaced and written in a large font.

8. A new edition would be written every two years to limit reselling.

7. Forbidden fruit would have been eaten because it wasn't cafeteria food.

6. Paul's letter to the Romans becomes Paul's email to abuse@romans.gov

5. Reason Cain killed Abel: They were roommates.

4. The place where the end of the world occurs: Finals, not Armageddon.

3. Out go the mules, in comes the mountain bikes.

2. Reason why Moses and followers walked in the desert for 40 years: They didn't want to ask directions and look like freshmen.

1. Instead of God creating the world in six days and resting on the seventh, He would have put it off until the night before it was due and then pulled an all-nighter.

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https://www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/article-12431921/Woman-25-reveals-diagnosed-stage-three-colon-cancer-24-began-BURPING-10-times-day.html

Woman, 25, reveals how she was diagnosed with stage three colon cancer at 24 after she began BURPING 10 times a day

    Bailey, 25, from Florida, began burping excessively during a holiday in 2001
    READ MORE: These are the four warning signs of colon cancer in younger adults

By Maria Okanrende For Mailonline

Updated: 10:58, 22 August 2023

A woman who went from never burping to belching 'five to ten times a day' has revealed how she was then diagnosed with stage three colon cancer at age 24.  Bailey Mcbreen, 25, from Sarasota, Florida, never imagined that something so ordinary could have been a symptom of something so deadly.  The nurse knew something was amiss during a holiday with her fiancé in 2021. The trip was marred by constant belching around 'five to ten times a day' even though she was incapable of burping before.  The couple joked about her sudden ability to release gas, and with a doctor putting it down to 'anxiety', she focused squarely on planning her dream wedding.  She recalled: 'We were joking about my burping on holiday because I never used to be able to do it.  We didn't think it was anything alarming as burping is so normal for everyone else.  I casually mentioned it to my doctor on my next visit, but again, they also didn't think anything of it and it was put down to anxiety.  I had no other symptoms and eventually everything just went back to normal until January this year'.

What was once considered an embarrassing joke soon transformed into something much more sinister.  As time went on, her unusual burping was accompanied by a variety of other concerning symptoms such as vomiting and nausea.  She explained:  'I had been planning my engagement party so I was really busy and preoccupied, but then after the party, I realized I hadn't gone to the toilet in a couple of days which was not normal for me.  As the week went on, my symptoms started snowballing. I had excruciating abdominal pain, cramping, and nausea, and I couldn't keep my food down.  As a nurse, I knew they were the symptoms of a small bowel obstruction, so I tried to resolve it on my own.   However, by the time the weekend came around, I was in so much pain my mom said I needed to go to the hospital'.

At her mother's insistence, the pair went to a hospital, where Bailey was given a CT scan. Moments later she would receive a devastating diagnosis.  'Within 10 minutes I was told that I had a mass on my colon and that they believed it was colon cancer until it was proved otherwise' added Bailey.

'I was admitted to the hospital straight away. When my biopsy results came back, it was confirmed that I had stage three colon cancer.  I felt the blood rush out of my head when I heard those words, and my entire body froze. I couldn't believe what I was hearing.  I then just went into nurse mode and started asking lots of questions. I was thinking about IVF, losing my hair, and chemotherapy'.

Bailey underwent further surgery to remove part of her colon and some of her lymph nodes.  She has also completed 12 weeks of chemotherapy and is currently waiting for results to determine her next steps.  She continued: 'I'm in a waiting game at the moment to see if I will need more surgery.  The doctors couldn't get a clear margin the first time round to remove the cancer as it had also attached itself to my spleen. Or I may need further treatment such as radiotherapy'.

The quick turnaround of events has left Bailey in utter shock. She remarked that she never would have considered burping to be a symptom of cancer: 'It's something that is so easily dismissed.  But I've learnt that anything that is not normal for you, is abnormal.  Symptoms are our body's way of telling us that something is wrong'.

An oncologist told Bailey that burping is one of the biggest symptoms seen in young adults with colon cancer.  The bride-to-be says she is 'praying' the cancer doesn't return, adding she has felt 'lost' since her bout with the grueling treatment.  She said: 'Since finishing chemo, I've been feeling lost. It's weird just waiting around and praying that I won't have a reoccurrence.  However, I have been planning my wedding in the middle of all of this, which has given me something to focus on and keep my mind occupied.  We're having a small destination wedding in November. It's been amazing to have something that's giving me light during something very dark and scary. I can't wait to get married'.

Bailey is focused wholeheartedly on turning her life around 'holistically' so she can maintain the energy needed to fight for her life. The experience has also taught her some key lessons about life.  'My biggest takeaway from all of this is to not let medics dismiss your symptoms. You know your body better than anyone and if you think something isn't quite right, don't let it be covered by modern medicine'.

EXCESSIVE BELCHING AS A SIGN OF COLON CANCER

Belching, also known as burping, is your body's way of expelling excess air from your upper digestive tract.  A healthy person usually burps up to 30 times a day. However, some conditions may cause you to burp more often.  Belching alone is not a definitive symptom of cancer, but it may be a precursor to cancers in the digestive system.  Excessive burping that occurs alongside other symptoms can be signs of certain cancers, such as gastric (stomach) cancer, esophageal cancer, and colon cancer.  In addition to constant burping, look out for symptoms like:

    Poor appetite
    Unintentional weight loss
    Abdominal pain
    Discomfort in the abdomen, usually above the navel
    Feeling full after eating only a small meal
    Heartburn or indigestion
    Nausea
    Vomiting, with or without blood
    Swelling or fluid buildup in the abdomen

Information compiled by Verywell Health

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https://www.dailymail.co.uk/tvshowbiz/article-12327749/The-eugenics-obsessed-mother-created-perfect-daughter-shot-dead-feared-HG-Wells-plotting-kidnap-incredible-true-story-dramatised-captivating-new-TV-saga.html

The eugenics-obsessed mother who created the 'perfect daughter' then shot her dead because she feared HG Wells was plotting to kidnap her. An incredible true story now it's about to be dramatised in a captivating new TV saga

By Christopher Stevens

Published: 00:46, 23 July 2023 | Updated: 08:33, 23 July 2023

At dawn on a summer's morning, Aurora Rodriguez slipped into the bedroom of her 18-year-old daughter Hildegart and stood over her, holding the revolver she kept to protect them against predatory men. Slowly and with careful precision, she shot the sleeping girl three times in the head and once in the heart. Then she left the house and walked to the nearby home of a lawyer, waking him to confess to the murder.  Killing her child was the last desperate resort of a loving mother, she said, and claimed that it was the only means to prevent Hildegart from being kidnapped by the novelist H G Wells who she was convinced was working for the British secret services.  Having given birth to the girl, who was conceived via a sperm donor with the eugenic aim of creating a superhuman 'model woman of the future', Aurora believed she had the right to take the life she had so meticulously crafted.  Her daughter had, indeed, been a child prodigy, who, as a teenager, authored two books, carving out an international reputation as a campaigner for women's rights and sexual freedom. But this wasn't enough for her mother, who resembled a Dr Frankenstein figure at her trial, disappointed at having not created the 'perfect child'.  This tragic story, involving the chilling theory of eugenics that was fashionable among early 20th Century writers and thinkers that 'good breeding' could eradicate undesirable characteristics, is barely known in Britain. However, it has been legendary for 90 years in Spain, where Hildegart is known as the Red Virgin. Now, a much wider audience will be introduced to her life as she is to be the subject of an Amazon TV drama starring Najwa Nimri and Alba Planas.  Aurora Rodriguez was born in 1879, the daughter of a prominent liberal politician and Freemason in Madrid. When aged 16, her older sister gave birth to a son, Pepito, who soon displayed a gift for music. At her father's urging, Aurora took over the child's education, drilling him at piano practice for hours every day.  This went on for three years, until her sister claimed her little boy back. Aurora was furious, accusing her family of intending to exploit the boy's genius.  Deprived of this human project, she decided to embark on one of her own. She had no intention of getting married: the thought of sex repulsed her. As a feminist and socialist, she also regarded sex as a trick to enslave women and reduce them to the level of breeding stock. But by the time she was 30, she decided she was willing to endure intercourse for as long as it took to become pregnant.    She needed a partner who met her criteria of education and social class, who would agree to a physical relationship without any emotional attachment and who could be trusted never to claim paternity rights as the biological father.  Eventually, she chose a military priest, Albert Pallas Montseny. As soon as she was certain she was expecting a child, she broke off all contact with Pallas.  For nine months she adopted a strict regime supposed to ensure the health of the foetus, bathing twice a day and waking every hour through the night to commit to a pseudo-scientific ritual of changing position.  On December 9, 1914, Aurora gave birth to a daughter and named her Hildegart. She claimed the name meant 'garden of wisdom' and commenced the baby's schooling. Her goal, she later declared, was to mould 'the most perfect woman who was the measure of humanity and the final redeemer'. Hildegart once explained to the English sexologist Havelock Ellis: 'I was a eugenic child.'

Eugenics was a term coined by the explorer and anthropologist Francis Galton, a cousin of evolutionist Charles Darwin. He devised a twisted theory of natural selection for human beings.  Ranking people by class and race, Galton taught that the so-called lower orders 'must be subjected to rigorous selection. The few best specimens of that race can alone be allowed to become parents, and not many of their descendants can be allowed to live. If a higher race be substituted for the low one, all this terrible misery disappears'.

His views were adopted not only by the Nazis, but by many of the Suffragettes who were eager to see birth control and abortion made legal and easily available.  Marie Stopes, now regarded as the pioneer of family planning, was an enthusiastic eugenicist. Inter-racial marriage should be outlawed, she believed, calling for the 'hopelessly rotten and racially diseased' to be sterilised.  Her views are now regarded as so repugnant that in 2020 the charity Marie Stopes International hid her name behind an acronym, becoming MSI Reproductive Choices.  By the time Hildegart was 11 months old, she knew her alphabet and could pick out letters on wooden blocks. Aged two, she was reading, at three she could hold a pen and write a letter, and at four she could type and play the piano.  By the time she was ten, she spoke German, French, English, Italian, Portuguese and Latin on top of Spanish. She started university at 13. Aurora also taught her about reproduction, though sex education was taboo in Spain at that time.  'I remember,' Hildegart wrote, 'that when I was about three years old, I learnt that the rose was hermaphrodite. At that time, one of our servant girls was named Rosa, and that same day I ran to her and said: "Rosa, you are a hermaphrodite!" She asked what that was, and when I ingenuously explained that it meant being male and female at the same time, there was, as you may imagine, a scene.'

Though she was taught about sex, there was no affection in her upbringing. Aurora was proud Hildegart had no friends her own age and no other adult played any significant part in her childhood. She was almost never hugged.  By the time she was 11, Hildegart Rodriguez was a pioneer in the feminist cause of sexual liberation.  She gave lectures to packed audiences, preaching that women would never be free until they could indulge in sex outside marriage as men did, without fear of pregnancy. Before she was 16, while studying for her law degree, she published two books, Sex And Love and The Sexual Rebellion Of Youth, as well as three pamphlets on the subject.  Such views were outrageous in Catholic Spain but Hildegart was able to voice them because she was so obviously an innocent.  At the same time, she became an ardent socialist. The combination earned her the soubriquet of the Red Virgin. In 1930 she wrote to Havelock Ellis. His sexual psychology books were so controversial that they could not be printed or sold in Britain. The most notorious was Sexual Inversion a sympathetic study of male homosexuality among the professional classes.  Another, Auto-Eroticism, dealt with masturbation, and a third, The Erotic Rights Of Women, argued that men did not have a monopoly on sexual pleasure. Havelock Ellis, then 71, was entranced by Hildegart, all the more so because he approved of her Left-wing politics. He went to hear her lecture and reported that she received standing ovations lasting five minutes.  She also approached America's leading advocate for birth control, Dorothy Sanger, asking for help obtaining teaching materials and contraceptives.  'My mother has read your book, My Fight For Birth Control, many times,' she wrote, 'and bids me send you her most affectionate regards.'

Aurora kept close control over her precocious daughter, joining her on stage and insisting that they both dressed head to toe in black as a discouragement to lecherous males. But she couldn't promote Hildegart as a public icon and keep her secluded from would-be suitors. One was Catalan lawyer Antonio Villena. Another was the socialist writer Abel Velilla, whose attentions worried Aurora so much she ordered him to keep his distance.  By 1932, when Hildegart was 17, Spain had deposed its king and become a republic. A Fascist opposition was building, with the nationalist General Francisco Franco gaining influence.  At the same time, Hildegart was beginning to form her own opinions, instead of reciting those taught to her by her mother. She expressed doubts about Communism, writing a pamphlet titled Was Marx Wrong? which drew death threats from Left-wing extremists.  The final crisis came when Havelock Ellis introduced Hildegart to novelist H G Wells, whose prophetic writing (including The War Of The Worlds) exhorted mankind to mend its ways. The pair exchanged letters and the then 66-year-old ardent socialist invited the teenager to travel to England to work with him. But as a shameless womaniser, it is unlikely that his interest in her was wholly political.  Hildegart refused, but her mother was convinced the two Englishmen would prise her daughter away. She suspected them of being British secret agents a ludicrous charge, but one no more mad than many of Aurora's other ideas.  In May 1933, she confined Hildegart to the house, even disconnecting the phone.  She was also reeling from the discovery that, far from being the genetically pure father she believed, Pallas was an incestuous rapist who had sexually assaulted his own niece.  By the deranged logic of eugenics, Aurora had not created the 'perfect girl' but a monster that had to die.  At her trial, Aurora tried to justify the murder, saying: 'The sculptor, after discovering the most minimal imperfection in his work, destroys it.'

Havelock Ellis was appalled by the killing. He called her Saint Hildegart and 'a miracle'.  'Hildegart's murder was like an earthquake,' said Julian Vadillo, professor of contemporary history at Carlos III University of Madrid. 'Her death meant the end of one of Spanish feminism's greatest hopes.'

Aurora was jailed for 26 years. At first, she tried to continue her socialist mission, campaigning to form a trade union for prisoners. But her delusions consumed her. During the Spanish Civil War in the late 1930s she was diagnosed with schizophrenia and transferred to the Ciempozuelos mental hospital in Madrid, run by nuns.  In 1948, aged 69, she wrote to the Mother Superior, asking for parole: 'I have been here 15 years. I am old and receive hardly any visitors.'

Clemency was denied and, seven years later, she died from cancer.  To occupy herself in the asylum, she made rag dolls. The nuns did not allow her to keep them.

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Faith / Does It Really Matter if I Read God’s Word Today?
« on: June 08, 2023, 12:28:11 PM »
https://proverbs31.org/read/devotions/full-post/2022/05/12/does-it-really-matter-if-i-read-gods-word-today?utm_campaign=Daily%20Devotions&utm_medium=email&_hsmi=211922846&_hsenc=p2ANqtz-82tDvHD8KGeGuuGjqv2g1NUd589ca7-CNbDop4hROi_2QyjR2mz9CuB9F2AhkUapJRZvCHR2j0OQ7yWzEWs_AsCp6wxw&utm_content=211922846&utm_source=hs_email#disqus_thread

Does It Really Matter if I Read God’s Word Today?
May 12, 2022
by Lysa TerKeurst

“so is my word that goes out from my mouth: It will not return to me empty, but will accomplish what I desire and achieve the purpose for which I sent it” Isaiah 55:11 (NIV)

Do you ever get overwhelmed when you sit down to read your Bible?

Me too especially when I’m feeling worn down and worn out.  When we’re in these desperate places, it’s easy to simply want God to rain down “right now” wisdom full of answers and solutions for what’s breaking our hearts. But spending time in God’s Word actually offers us so much more than quick fixes. You see, the Bible doesn’t just give us instruction for today it also plants wisdom in our hearts for the future.  We see this powerful truth in Isaiah 55:10-11 (ESV), which says: “For as the rain and the snow come down from heaven and do not return there but water the earth, making it bring forth and sprout, giving seed to the sower and bread to the eater, so shall my word be that goes out from my mouth; it shall not return to me empty, but it shall accomplish that which I purpose, and shall succeed in the thing for which I sent it.”

This water imagery would have been quite significant to the people of Israel. Because of where they lived, they were heavily dependent on seasonal rains for water. Water simply wasn’t as easily accessible to Israel as it was for other nations like Egypt with its Nile River.  The Israelites’ need to depend on God for physical sustenance and satisfaction served as a continual reminder of their need to depend upon Him spiritually as well.  They didn’t just need the rain for immediate relief for themselves or nourishment for their plants. The rains served a dual purpose enabling the crops to flourish for food that year as well as enabling the crops to produce the seeds necessary for the following year.  The water provided not only sustenance for the present but assurance for the future.  How like the Word of God.  Scripture, like rain, brings us immediate nourishment and refreshment for our present circumstances, (Psalm 19:7-10) and it also waters seeds to sustain us in the future. (Isaiah 55:10) God already sees everything coming our way, and that means He knows exactly how to begin preparing our hearts today for tomorrow.  I’ve seen this to be so true in my own life.  Recently, I was at a women's gathering where I was about to walk out and study the Bible with others. And just minutes before, I got a call that ripped my heart out of my chest. The news absolutely devastated me but I also had an assignment before me.  So I took a deep breath.  I wiped my tears.  I whispered the one shred of truth I could remember from Bible verses that had been on repeat in my mind: God is faithful. Living water for my soul. (Isaiah 55:10-11; John 7:38; John 4:13-14)  Then I turned to my friends who were with me and said, “This is what it looks like to walk in the strength of the Lord. Never forget this. He is always faithful.” I stepped into studying Scripture and was astounded by the power of the Holy Spirit that poured out.  I don’t tell you this to highlight my own strength because frankly I didn’t feel like I had much at that moment. But if you’re asking yourself, Does it really matter if I read God’s Word today? remember that storing Scripture deep in our hearts prepares us for the most unpredictable moments. The unforeseeable circumstances. The moments that take our breath away, leaving us no other option but to trust God to carry us through.  So friend, let’s open God’s Word today. Whether you feel like it or you’re not sure you can, even if it’s just one or two verses, read Scripture. And more than just reading His words, we must choose to receive them. Even more importantly, we must live them.  Because the more we apply God’s teaching to our lives, the more it becomes part of us. For today. For one day. For every day.

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Faith / My Yes Is on the Table: From Fear to Faith
« on: June 08, 2023, 12:19:50 PM »
https://proverbs31.org/read/devotions/full-post/2022/05/11/my-yes-is-on-the-table-from-fear-to-faith?utm_campaign=Daily%20Devotions&utm_medium=email&_hsmi=211973684&_hsenc=p2ANqtz-_YUDpKCbLxREUKfoULOVdoYBi6Cfy7LV0DTyxtpsNQn27Ej1uimv33ZExKe1X6JhsgiBnVcSRGfyG0LaZZ8hN6AbxCrg&utm_content=211973684&utm_source=hs_email#disqus_thread

My Yes Is on the Table: From Fear to Faith
May 11, 2022
by Jennifer Hand

“Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be frightened, and do not be dismayed, for the LORD your God is with you wherever you go.” Joshua 1:9 (ESV)

I remember when I first had the thought I want to say yes to God, but I am afraid of __________________. I had my journal, my favorite pen and a cup of coffee, of course, and was determined to write whatever answer came to mind. I didn’t want to edit the fears of my heart but rather acknowledge them.  What shocked me was there were so many answers for that fill-in-the-blank and I had thought I didn’t struggle with fear.  Fear of failure. Fear of rejection. Fear of hearing God wrong.  I wondered if I was alone, so I asked other women on social media, and the responses came pouring in: Fear of hoping in the goodness of God and the outcomes of God. Fear of not being equipped. The list could go on and on.  That’s why I love that when Joshua was about to step into the leadership journey of his lifetime, God spoke to him about fear: “Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be frightened, and do not be dismayed, for the LORD your God is with you wherever you go” (Joshua 1:9).

I don’t believe God was pointing His finger and condemning the fear in Joshua. God knew Joshua would be afraid, so He encouraged him with this truth: The God who created him was with him.  During that prayer time, I sensed the Lord asking me to place my yes before Him to move from “fear stops” to “faith steps.”  I pictured myself writing the word “yes” and placing it before Him. Putting my yes on the table.  Yes is a surrender, a faith step. And it takes us into the promised land God has planned for us.  Promised-land living is a life of following Him. It is obedience to Him and following the path marked out by Him.  One week, while serving as a camp counselor, I once had to sleep in the chapel’s basement due to an overcrowded camp. The seventh-grade girls and I settled into our sleeping bags and quickly realized camel crickets surrounded us.  The more of them we saw, the more the beady-eyed crickets started to look like giants. Because they began to look like giants, we forgot we were bigger than them.  When the Israelites went to spy on the promised land in Numbers 13, they saw giants in the land. Because they saw giants, they began to see themselves as grasshoppers. (Numbers 13:33) Those who had gone to spy out the land quickly forgot who had promised to give them the land.  What are the giants in your land that can make you afraid to say “yes” to God?

My fear of failure can feel like a giant. It can make me want to shrink back and hide. But as God was with Joshua, He is with me. He is with you.  The people-pleaser in me hates to go to the eye doctor. When the doctor places the gadget up to my eyes and asks me to look at the different lenses and say which is better or best, I feel he or she has an answer of which lens is supposed to make me see better.  What if I imagine God sitting in the eye doctor’s chair and asking me what I see through my lens of fear? Then what if He switched it to a lens of faith?

What if I look into His eyes and let Him see mine?

Psalm 34:5 tells me that when I look to Him I am radiant, and my face will never be put to shame. The verse right before tells me He can deliver me from all of my fears.  Today, let’s find courage by looking at Jesus and by allowing Him to switch our gaze from the lens of fear to the lens of faith.  We can say “yes” to God because we can trust God.

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Fun, Games And Silliness / Order
« on: May 27, 2023, 07:45:36 PM »
A customer sent a large order to a distributor.  The distributor noticed that the previous bill hadn't been paid so they sent a message: "We can't ship your new order until you pay for the last one."

The next day the reply came: "Please cancel the order. We can't wait that long."

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